The Next Step
by LemonStar
Summary: ..Seth/Kate.. He wears a suit – obviously – and she finds a white dress, but where, Seth has no idea because this place they're in is the definition of middle of nowhere.


**I am so happy that I have finally had my eyes open to how amazing this pairing is.**

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…

They see a couple on the beach – a bride and a groom standing in the setting sun, getting their pictures taken as they gaze lovingly at one another. He and Kate are walking past, heading back towards their motel after getting some things to snack on because the vending machines where they are staying are empty and Seth doesn't see them getting stocked anytime soon, and he sees the way Kate's eyes linger on the couple; especially the bride in her white dress blowing gently in the breeze.

Seth wonders if he should say something to her, but at the last second, he decides not to because he has absolutely no idea what to say about it. He doesn't have to ask her if she wants to get married. The way she was just looking at that bride makes it pretty damn obvious that that's exactly what she wants. He's just not sure if he wants to ask her if she wants to marry _him_ because he's already pretty sure he knows the answer and he doesn't want to hear it. She's told him she loves him, yeah, and he loves her more than he ever thought it was possible to love someone and they haven't left one another's sides in months, but still, Seth doubts that when Kate does get married, it will be to him.

"That's a nice dress," Seth hears himself speak even though he just specifically told himself not to.

Kate turns her head away from the beach to give him a smile. "Don't know if the lace sleeves look would flatter you," she teases him and he allows himself a little smirk.

"I meant for you. It'd be a nice dress for you," he clarifies.

They turn up a street that cuts their view off from the beach.

"You know what I meant," he then adds.

"Did I?" Kate continues to tease him.

She loves to tease him and Seth loves it, too, because she's right here, standing next to him, when she teases him and he doesn't want her anywhere else in the world.

They reach their motel – a rundown place like all of the others with pink front doors and pink bathrooms, but there is a pool in the center of the courtyard and when it comes to motels for them, that's the only thing that matters.

In their room, Kate sets the plastic bag down on the table and then goes to the bed, kicking off her shoes as she lies back, giving Seth a smile that either means she wants to have sex or she knows what he's talking about. He's hoping for the former, but for some reason, he can't get himself to drop this.

"Have you thought about getting married? To me?" He asks as he makes sure the door is locked.

"Yes." Kate's answer is simple and honest. "Have you?" She asks in return.

He snorts a little, peeking through the window blinds to make sure that they hadn't been followed. He then pulls his gun from the back of his pants where he keeps it and sets it down on the table next to the bag of snacks.

"Already tried the married thing. Pretty sure it's safe to label it is a disaster."

Kate sits up a little, reclining back against the bed's headboard. "So, you never want to try it again?"

He looks at her for a moment and this time, he's not mistaking the disappointment in her eyes for anything else even though she's trying to hide it from him.

He comes towards her and after toeing off his own shoes, he crawls onto the bed, sliding his body over hers. Kate tilts her eyes up, looking into his. Her hair isn't at red as it once was – thank God. The red had stayed for a while, even after he got her back, but it is fading back, slowly going back to the brown that was all Kate. _His_ Kate.

He lifts his hand now and fingers a lock. "Didn't say that," he finally answers her question.

"So, what _are_ you saying?" She lifts an eyebrow at him and it looks like she's trying not to smile. He's making himself a little knotted up and she knows it. Her hands drop down to his hips and her legs spread slightly, letting his lower body sink in the space she's created.

Seth looks at her for a moment; into the green eyes that had once tortured him by glaring at him and not being Kate's eyes at all. They had been the same warm green, but there had been nothing else about Kate to them. No love or warmth and that bitch had tortured him by using Kate's body as the form of weapon against him. It has been months since he got her back, but sometimes, he will still wake up and will wake Kate up, too, just so she opens her eyes and he can see that they are _her_ eyes.

He never wants her away from him again. He won't survive it.

They've been through pretty much everything together already; she's his partner in nearly every single way. So why not make it every way instead of nearly? He already gave her his blood and if that isn't enough, she's the toughest, most bad-ass, sweetest girl he's ever met and he admits that he's crazy about her.

"I'm saying-" he pauses to abandon her hair to brush his fingers down the side of her neck and his eyes never leave hers as he speaks. "-I think you'd look good in lace sleeves."

…

They get married in a church. Seth knows there's no way around that because it doesn't matter how much she has gone through. Kate still believes in certain things and nothing will ever take that away from her.

He wears a suit – obviously – and she finds a white dress, but where, Seth has no idea because this place they're in is the definition of middle of nowhere. The church is small and empty except for the Priest and Seth, both waiting. And then Kate is walking up the aisle with her arm looped through Richie's and Seth feels as if his breath has been damn-near taken away from him at his first sight of her.

Once they reach them, Richie and Kate hug one another tightly and Richie claps a hand on Seth's shoulder and the brothers exchange smiles before Seth looks back to Kate and reaches for her hands, holding onto them as she gives them a squeeze.

"Ready, partner?" Kate asks before the Priest can begin.

Seth smiles and squeezes her hands back. "Always."

…

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 **Thank you for reading!**


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